Growing without human assistance on multiple continents and providing nutrient dense greens, this resilient soil repairing plant offers many gifts to gardeners and foragers alike
Years ago, my son and I took a gardening job for an older couple in our town. One project was to get a large bed with agapodium, spearmint, and astilbe, under control. The lady of the house wanted us to take out the agapodium and leave the spearmint and astilbe - a nearly impossible task, with spearmint and agapodium roots running everywhere. We did our best.
A friend of one of the daughters had been “volunteered” to do the project some years before and was making progress when another daughter said she knew what to do, and she rototilled the whole thing and wasted all the hours he had put in, chopping up the roots so they could all sprout anew. He was pretty disgusted, and I don’t blame him a bit.
The place is now owned by one of the couple’s daughters - the daughter who did the rototilling, I think. I haven’t been in to see how things are now…. : /
Thank you for taking the time to share that experience.
That sounds like quite a challenged indeed, those brittle astilbes stems and tender mint leaves all mashed in goutweed. It must have been a very fragrant experience. One of the things i do like about astilbes is that I have observed their blossoms attract Tachnid flies.
ohh darn, ya that tiller will get you everytime, I worked on a job where someone had done that with comfrey roots. It increased the population of plants from 3 - 30 plus in a very short amount of time.
I wonder if there is something one could plant in there with a good taproot that could add some three dimensional depth, function and beauty to the garden bed?
Wow and you are a nature lover, perhaps the ecosystem where you are is more intact than many other areas and so Mother Earth does not need to send this plant to help repair and protect her soils.
This one grows here all over the edge of farm fields and patches of forests.
Thank you Gavin. That was good timing! As I don't do " weeding " I had left a healthy looking plant growing in my veg patch. Thanks to you I now know it is poison hemlock!
Gavin! I've been meaning to write since your post on nettles. I have a thriving 300 sq ft patch in the unused part of the chicken coop. If I move the chickens over there to clear it, will that hurt them?
And my ex has a terrible case of recurrent gout that he's finally been driven to pharmaceuticals over, after the tart cherry juice and a healthy diet have not sufficed. I'm guessing goutweed doesn't grow in Arizona. Is there a way to get the benefit without a fresh source?
These have been jam-packed. I'm enjoying them very much, and am always so impressed with your knowledge and dedication. Thank you!
Wowzers that is a lot of nettle. Yes I think it is considered to be an ideal plant for including in a chicken's diet. For poultry, there's a long history in folklore of stinging nettles being used for everything from prolonging egg laying to preventing parasites.
Nettles have been proven to be an excellent (and not very well known) source of nutrients for chickens in multiple studies.
Here is a brief summary of the overall impact on poultry health:
Perhaps most significantly, crushed nettles fed to chickens were shown to increase the overall quality of blood. Blood clotted more quickly – helpful in the event of a predator attack; the concentration of red blood cells (which carry oxygen and broadly speaking create energy) was increased; and 'basophils', a type of white blood cell which support the immune system, also increased. Studies also found the high levels of Vitamins A and C help laying hens' performance and was particularly useful when hens were under stress from heat.
The Vitamin K in nettle is also critical for both blood clotting and bone health in chickens.
Other studies found that the minerals found in nettle leaves, particularly calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron, increased bone density and eggshell quality, and promoted optimal growth as well.
The antioxidants contained in nettles were also found to improve chickens' general health, and in particular to boost the immune system
- Keshavarz, M et al: Growth performance, blood metabolites, antioxidant stability and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed diets containing nettle (Urtica dioica) powder or essential oil. Pub. International Journal of Advanced Biological and Biometric Research, 2014. http://www.ijabbr.com/article_9120.html
I have also read that when studied in nature, wild birds will eat stinging nettle as a way to help prevent internal parasites. Based on what I know of the compounds that are present in Nettle I would guess that the anti-parasitic effects would benefit chickens as well.
Here are a few additional resources related to feeding chickens stinging nettle:
I have a friend that recently asked me what I knew about natural remedies for gout (which at the time was almost nothing) so after doing some research this is what I have come up with so far:
It sounds like the cherry juice is definitely supposed to be helpful. There are compounds (such as 6-Shogaol) in ginger rhizome that are also supposed to be very helpful for gout.
I am not sure if there is any form of extract of goutweed (aka ground elder) which can be sourced out.
I also looked through my books on herbalism and found a number of pages devoted to natural remedies for Gout that you may find helpful. I uploaded them into an album in a archive folder which you can find here https://archive.org/details/img-7473.jpg-qs-1
I am so glad to hear you have been enjoying the recent articles and I hope the above info is helpful to you as well.
Years ago, my son and I took a gardening job for an older couple in our town. One project was to get a large bed with agapodium, spearmint, and astilbe, under control. The lady of the house wanted us to take out the agapodium and leave the spearmint and astilbe - a nearly impossible task, with spearmint and agapodium roots running everywhere. We did our best.
A friend of one of the daughters had been “volunteered” to do the project some years before and was making progress when another daughter said she knew what to do, and she rototilled the whole thing and wasted all the hours he had put in, chopping up the roots so they could all sprout anew. He was pretty disgusted, and I don’t blame him a bit.
The place is now owned by one of the couple’s daughters - the daughter who did the rototilling, I think. I haven’t been in to see how things are now…. : /
Thank you for taking the time to share that experience.
That sounds like quite a challenged indeed, those brittle astilbes stems and tender mint leaves all mashed in goutweed. It must have been a very fragrant experience. One of the things i do like about astilbes is that I have observed their blossoms attract Tachnid flies.
ohh darn, ya that tiller will get you everytime, I worked on a job where someone had done that with comfrey roots. It increased the population of plants from 3 - 30 plus in a very short amount of time.
I wonder if there is something one could plant in there with a good taproot that could add some three dimensional depth, function and beauty to the garden bed?
Thanks for the comment :)
You stumped me, Gavin! I don't know this plant at all. The recipes all look yummy! :)
Wow and you are a nature lover, perhaps the ecosystem where you are is more intact than many other areas and so Mother Earth does not need to send this plant to help repair and protect her soils.
This one grows here all over the edge of farm fields and patches of forests.
Well, I'll be on the lookout for her this spring thanks to you! Remember, I lived in cities most of my life and only moved to the country in 2020!
Thank you Gavin. That was good timing! As I don't do " weeding " I had left a healthy looking plant growing in my veg patch. Thanks to you I now know it is poison hemlock!
Hi Kirsty! Warm greetings from southern Ontario :)
You are most welcome I am glad the info was helpful.
Gavin! I've been meaning to write since your post on nettles. I have a thriving 300 sq ft patch in the unused part of the chicken coop. If I move the chickens over there to clear it, will that hurt them?
And my ex has a terrible case of recurrent gout that he's finally been driven to pharmaceuticals over, after the tart cherry juice and a healthy diet have not sufficed. I'm guessing goutweed doesn't grow in Arizona. Is there a way to get the benefit without a fresh source?
These have been jam-packed. I'm enjoying them very much, and am always so impressed with your knowledge and dedication. Thank you!
Wowzers that is a lot of nettle. Yes I think it is considered to be an ideal plant for including in a chicken's diet. For poultry, there's a long history in folklore of stinging nettles being used for everything from prolonging egg laying to preventing parasites.
Nettles have been proven to be an excellent (and not very well known) source of nutrients for chickens in multiple studies.
Here is a brief summary of the overall impact on poultry health:
Perhaps most significantly, crushed nettles fed to chickens were shown to increase the overall quality of blood. Blood clotted more quickly – helpful in the event of a predator attack; the concentration of red blood cells (which carry oxygen and broadly speaking create energy) was increased; and 'basophils', a type of white blood cell which support the immune system, also increased. Studies also found the high levels of Vitamins A and C help laying hens' performance and was particularly useful when hens were under stress from heat.
The Vitamin K in nettle is also critical for both blood clotting and bone health in chickens.
Other studies found that the minerals found in nettle leaves, particularly calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron, increased bone density and eggshell quality, and promoted optimal growth as well.
The antioxidants contained in nettles were also found to improve chickens' general health, and in particular to boost the immune system
- Abdul-Majeed, A. F., et al: Effect of adding nettle plant on some physiological and biochemical parameters of broiler chickens. Pub. Iraqi Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 2010. https://vetmedmosul.com/article_169995_95b6c57d182c1ac80628a2996586074a.pdf
- Keshavarz, M et al: Growth performance, blood metabolites, antioxidant stability and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed diets containing nettle (Urtica dioica) powder or essential oil. Pub. International Journal of Advanced Biological and Biometric Research, 2014. http://www.ijabbr.com/article_9120.html
I have also read that when studied in nature, wild birds will eat stinging nettle as a way to help prevent internal parasites. Based on what I know of the compounds that are present in Nettle I would guess that the anti-parasitic effects would benefit chickens as well.
Here are a few additional resources related to feeding chickens stinging nettle:
- https://www.newlifeonahomestead.com/can-chickens-eat-nettles/
- https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/stinging-nettles.html
- https://bitchinchickens.com/2021/07/19/natural-remedy-for-chickens-stinging-nettle/
- https://thefewellhomestead.com/herbs-for-your-chickens
I have a friend that recently asked me what I knew about natural remedies for gout (which at the time was almost nothing) so after doing some research this is what I have come up with so far:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19819286/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17084827/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28376889/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29681967/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19800788/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19388706/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31205513/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11025157/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31883118/
- http://blog.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/arthritis-diet-cherries/
- https://arthritis-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13075-019-1974-z
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19800788/
It sounds like the cherry juice is definitely supposed to be helpful. There are compounds (such as 6-Shogaol) in ginger rhizome that are also supposed to be very helpful for gout.
I am not sure if there is any form of extract of goutweed (aka ground elder) which can be sourced out.
I also looked through my books on herbalism and found a number of pages devoted to natural remedies for Gout that you may find helpful. I uploaded them into an album in a archive folder which you can find here https://archive.org/details/img-7473.jpg-qs-1
I am so glad to hear you have been enjoying the recent articles and I hope the above info is helpful to you as well.
Thanks for reading and for the comment :)